treo 650 super crasher

[MR29ROSE]

bad news friends
after being so excited with this phone, i hate to say i am not happy. this crazy thing keeps crashing and i need to hard reset each time and than when i sync back my info it crashes again. this device is very very sensitive to many things and the hard part is figuring out what the heck it is thats causing the crashes. what happens is it starts its normal boot up where u see the palm one logo and than the second palm logo appears, but it will keep cycling those over and over.
just so you know, this is what happened to me the very first thing out of the box when trying to set up the software for syncing. i even did it with the teir 2 support and they were shocked how crazy it was going.
any ideas?

i really love all the new upgrades but im aching to maybe put it back in the box and send it where it came from. and i really hate this versamail. i think its one of the causes.

[SpineDoc]

Part of it may be the Palm OS. For all the crap MS gets for crashing, in my years of having both Palm and PPC devices I must say that Palm crashes MUCH more often than MS does. I cannot count how many flashing screens of death I have seen on the Palm OS over the years.

[bjork_rules]

Mine hasn't crashed once in nearly a week of use. Maybe you got one with a bad ROM flash.

[MR29ROSE]

what is MS? also i was thinking of going to the new ppc 6600 when it comes out. i always liked PPC better than palm. but i hate this crashing, i dont know if its my palm or something on it.

[Snoopy572]

Did you update from your 600 using the same profile and backup files whnever you installed the 650 software? I had the same problem, but you have to do a fresh install then install your previous applications one by one to find the culprit, becuase of course not all applications and files you had on your 600 will work for your 650. That was my fix to the solution anyway. I thought I would have lost my contacts, but I beamed everything over... :)

[KevinK]

My 650 crashes and reboots itself every other time I try to access the Web. I've already tried resetting the Palm, etc. I'm very unimpressed with the quality of Palm products. Would most likely never buy anything with the Palm name again.

[He Love Me]

After a full week of use, my 650 has not crashed or given me any problems(i.e. memory, resets, etc...) It's been flawless

[KevinK]

Try visiting the following websites with your 650:

http://www.textamerica.com

http://www.cnn.com

These (and many other) sites make my 650 crash every time. :(

After a full week of use, my 650 has not crashed or given me any problems(i.e. memory, resets, etc...) It's been flawless

[He Love Me]

Try visiting the following websites with your 650:

http://www.textamerica.com

http://www.cnn.com

These (and many other) sites make my 650 crash every time. :(

Sites come up with no problems. Anything else?

[KevinK]

Sites come up with no problems. Anything else?

You must be one of the lucky ones. :) I don't know whether you're in the minority or the majority.

[He Love Me]

You must be one of the lucky ones. :) I don't know whether you're in the minority or the majority.

not really lucky, there are lots of users that report good things but we just get overshadowed by the negative stuff. I suggest that you send your phone back if your not happy or post your problem on the treocentral.com forum to see if someone has a fix.

[Hte2w8]

I also have not had even one reset. I run AOL with no problems. And neither of the sites above give my treo any problems, in fact textamerica renders quite nicely. I did a clean instal and added back programs one by one.

[bjork_rules]

After a full week of use, my 650 has not crashed or given me any problems(i.e. memory, resets, etc...) It's been flawless
Same here. 100% perfect. No hard or soft resets. Great reception and tons of programs available.

[MR29ROSE]

i just hate when it crashes. the startup screen keeps cycling over and over again. only way out is a hard reset. this how everyone elses crashes? is there anyway around the crash without hard resetting?
makes me sick.

[acucu]

TREO 650 crashes when tring to retrieve email with versamail via pop 3 when clicking get button in versamail, i get 5-8 out of the total number of downloaded then it resets iteself.

swaped out phone ... same problem with new tre 650

think there is an issue with versaamaill
anyone else> gotta fix?

[bjork_rules]

Don't know. Mine's never crashed and I use versamail to check pop3 and gmail.

[MR29ROSE]

yes there is a fix. go to palmone.com and search for it. there is a few files you remove from your backup folder and thats it. but when you hotsync make sure, for that sync only, to make computer backup overide handheld in your hotsync conduits. that should do it.

[imannie]

I love my treo 650. It's crashed a couple of times but resets immediately - the pluses are definitely worth it.

After a full week of use, my 650 has not crashed or given me any problems(i.e. memory, resets, etc...) It's been flawless

[thorsent]

I've got Versamail synchronizing with my Exchange 2003 box. I get "sync 0006" errors every time I sync or send, but the emails go through nevertheless. Annoying but I can live with it.

What I can't live with is that the Palm crashes on certain emails, usually spam! So I'm on hold right now with a Palm support person (sounds like he's in Bangalore). Here's how I got there:

I actually bought my device directly from Palm instead of Sprint, under the stupid assumption that if I bought it from Palm then I would get direct support from them. Well as you know if you've maneuvered through the Palm support site it eventually sends you to www.sprintpcs.com. Worthless. Now Sprint has no email support, their webforms don't work, so I bite the bullet and call them. After just a few transfers I get sent to a support person.

Now I run a computer company so I know the deal. As soon as you ask a question that they know is going to be a problem you can hear the tone change in their voice. He immediately started blabbing about POP accounts saying that I had to use the Sprint email. Then when I said the "sync" button he thought I meant hotsynching, and when I asked him whether he'd actually used Versamail he got real defensive. So finally the answer was that it's a "third party application" that they don't support. I have to check with my "email provider". Guess what? That's me; I'm my email provider and the problem, Sir, is that Versamail crashes. There is a bug in Versamail. Is there anyone who can help with this or even wants to know about it? Sorry, you'll have to go to the web and look for whoever wrote Versamail. When I asked to speak to his supervisor he said, sardonically, "Sure, hope you have 30 minutes. Click".

So I took another stab at the Palm site. Eventually I decided to go to their Investor Relations section. There's always a phone number in Investor Relations. Once I got into the Palm corporate site they actually had a menu that brought me to my friend in Bangalore. He said that Sprint was supposed to support the phone but he would help me anyway. So I'm pretty happy with that.

Unfortunately I'm a little suspect as to his advice. He had me do a hard reset. Okay, I hadn't tried that. Maybe it will work, but come on right? It's a software bug. Then he said that I should get the free expansion card (already ordered dude) because Versamail may be crashing due to out of memory errors (I don't think so, I have gobs of memory left and it always crashes on the same email. It's reproducable [so long as I don't delete the email]). Then he said that it's probably a hardware problem and I should have the phone replaced, "There are no known bugs with Versamail."

So we'll see over the next couple of days whether the thing still crashes. Anyway, thought you guys should know about the corporate phone number. Maybe if enough people call it will register as a real issue.

Sometimes I'm so tempted to say that I'm a reviewer for Wired magazine and about to write a column on my experiences with the device: just to see if that would light a fire...

[Calvin&Hobbes]

what is MS? also i was thinking of going to the new ppc 6600 when it comes out. i always liked PPC better than palm. but i hate this crashing, i dont know if its my palm or something on it.

That is what I did. The Treo 650 is a nice phone, but it just could not do what I needed with my work. Here are some posts to take a look at:

Innocent 650 vs 6601 Business Trip Showdown
( http://www.sprintusers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=55973 )

Review of PPC-660x from a Treo 600 User
( http://www.sprintusers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=56223 )

Looking for a Reliable PDA Phone from Sprint...
( http://www.sprintusers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=56490 )

[JMHUD6179]

To the rescue :cowboy:

I too experienced the "error 7301" with my Treo 650. I called Sprint technical support and received the following advice:

On the PCS phone keypad, enter the following: ##774. This will take you to a screen where you will enter the code 030119. Also select to "re-launch". When this is completed, take the cover off the battery compartment on the back of the phone and push the stylus on the reset key. This will cause the phone to reconfigure itself with the Sprint network...which is fine. Nothing happens to the programs you already have synced to the phone.

This solved my problem completely. A few days later, I was loading some files for a wireless keyboard and something became corrupted resulting in the same 7301 error. I repeated the same steps that I wrote down from Sprint technical support (above) and just like magic....it solved my problem. I don't know if this will resolve this error if a different version of software is introduced later. However, with these two exceptions my Treo 650 has been very stable.

[vporter]

For versamail alternates try Chatteremail or snappermail. I've tried both with my pop3 and outlook express with no significant problems. Theres a whole thread/section dedicated to Chatter over on www.treocentral.com

[vporter]

Wirelessly posted (My Mobile Device: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows 98; PalmSource/hspr-H102; Blazer/4.0) 16;320x320)

I have no problems with the posted websites, but there are days when I get several soft resets. I only had to do a hard reset once since I received this replacement.

IMO, I would call sprint and try to get a replacement or hard reset and run the phone clean. After a day doing that I would load each 3rd party app one at a time. I bet it's a corrupt file in your sync folder. Good luck and keep us posted.

[JRider]

I've come to the conclusion that you have to get "lucky" with every electronic device (or probably every device) you buy.

The last two phones I purchased (both from Costco thank God) I had to get them exchanged within the first week I bought them. Last summer I got a Toshiba 4050 and the side volume buttons just stopped working. This spring I picked up my Treo 650 and the headphone jack crapped out on me.

My point is, after I got these devices replaced, I never had another problem (Crosses fingers for my Treo :)) I very well could have returned the phone and complained that it was a terrible device.

I think with any phone you buy you can always get unlucky and get a lemon. If you like the phone enough, swap it out and hope your luck improves.

I think people will agree that this is the risk you take when getting the latest and greatest. For someone who always has to have the latest and greatest, I've come to accept that.

[vporter]

I've come to the conclusion that you have to get "lucky" with every electronic device (or probably every device) you buy.

The last two phones I purchased (both from Costco thank God) I had to get them exchanged within the first week I bought them. Last summer I got a Toshiba 4050 and the side volume buttons just stopped working. This spring I picked up my Treo 650 and the headphone jack crapped out on me.

My point is, after I got these devices replaced, I never had another problem (Crosses fingers for my Treo :)) I very well could have returned the phone and complained that it was a terrible device.

I think with any phone you buy you can always get unlucky and get a lemon. If you like the phone enough, swap it out and hope your luck improves.

I think people will agree that this is the risk you take when getting the latest and greatest. For someone who always has to have the latest and greatest, I've come to accept that.

:good:

[Juno]

Sprint tech here. Just wanted to add a few things. It is sometimes hard to be helpful to someone with Treo problems because there is such a large number of possible software combos on the phone that could cause things to go wrong. I give the same advice to pretty much every Treo 650 owner that comes into the store with a problem. (Unless you have a hardware issue, like the LCD being out or the mic not working.)

Do a soft reset--just push the reset button in the battery compartment. Won't erase anything.

If that doesn't work, do a hard reset. This will erase everything. (Instructions in your users manual.) If the problem you have is with one of the programs the phone came with, i.e. web access, try again. If it works, you now know that one of the other programs you had on the device was interfering. Add your applications back on one at a time until you find the offender.

Also, make sure you have current software. Check this by dialing ##786, or going to the dial pad, picking the Options drop-down, and picking Phone Information. Current version is 1.12. If you don't have it, get it from the PalmOne website. This version should help with Versamail issues.

If you are still finding quirks or having trouble, check out the support forums at PalmOne.com. I do work for Sprint, but I don't own a Treo. You have probably spent about 500 more hours with your phone than I ever have with any Treo. There are some things that can only be learned thru experience, and with all the applications out there, I don't have time to familiarize myself with every one. But there are other palm users on the website who have found work-arounds and solutions that you can do at home.

Hope this is interesting/useful. The majority of Treo troubleshooting can be done from home. Maybe I can save you a trip to a Sprint store or 10 minutes waiting on hold for technical support!

[TreoNinja]

I've got a Treo 600, but I get problems too. I've never had to hard reset, but soft resets are almost a daily thing. I guess the software that came with the Treos obviously has lots of bugs. I would guess that the reason that most of these bugs are not fixed is because each carrier releases different updates (Ex: Sprint may give you totally different software for update "1.1" than verizons "1.1"). Palm can't just make one software update for ALL Treos I guess

[geekmom]

After I applied the recent Palm update, my Treo 650 was crashing like crazy. I was soft resetting 4-6 times a day. I am cautiously optimistic after a hard reset -- have not had to do a soft reset in four days now.

[massmonster]

You Know When We 1st Got Our Treo 2 Weeks Ago It Was Flawless When I Setup The Versamail To Retrieve Our Pop3 Client Email Thru Cox Communication It Would Retrieve Mail And Sometimes It Wont Then It Would Shut It Down Completely, Power Cycle Again Like Yours Did, Then You Cant Switch To The "2nd" Email You Have On Versamail Because It Power Cycles Again, Did It With The 2nd One Too. Got A 3rd Treo 650 Did The Same Thing.. So I Think The Versamail Is The Issue, It Needs An Upgrade Its Crashes My Phone Everytime

[knsv]

I just got a new treo 650 last week, i havent done any updates and havent run the disk that comes with it, are there any new firmware or other updates that have been out in the pas feew months? and what do they fix?

[massmonster]

I just got a new treo 650 last week, i havent done any updates and havent run the disk that comes with it, are there any new firmware or other updates that have been out in the pas feew months? and what do they fix?

hi from what palm tells me there is a software you can download to fix the versamail, i dont know which one though

[JRider]

For you people that are asking about updates and such, the latest firmware for the Sprint Treo 650 is 1.12. This update also includes an update for Versamail; as well as other important updates.

Here's the link: http://www.palm.com/us/support/downloads/treo650updater/sprint.html

[vdiesel]

you should return the phone and get another one!!i have had mine for almost 2 motnhs and no crashes yet. i have alot of apps also running in the phone. u porbbaly got a bad one!!

[massmonster]

How Could It Be A Bad One? This Is My 3rd Treo 650 Phone I Have Returned In 1 Week. They Are All Crashing!!!!!!! When I Open Up Versamail. I Really Think The Versamail Has A Bug That Palm Wont Admit To. They Keep Saying Either Theres No Issue With The Phone, Or An Upgrade Is Available When I Upgrade My Softaware, Which I Did Already 3 Times, And Still The Same Problem. I Purchased Mine This Month. When Did The Tre0 650's Come Out?? Could It Be That The 1st Batch For This Quarter Has Software Issues??

[massmonster]

I ALREADY DID THIS UPDATE/INSTALLER... STILL HAVE CRASHING ISSUES WITH VERSAMAIL, AND I'M ON MY 3RD TREO 650 PHONE PURCHASED THIS MONTH OF AUGUST 2005.

What is the Treo 650 Updater 1.12?

New with version 1.12:

* Enables Bluetooth Dial-Up Networking
* Updates VersaMail to version 3.1 to enhance stability and add improvements
* Adds support for more Bluetooth carkits including Acura, BMW, Chrysler, Toyota Prius (see all compatible car kits)
* Reduces post-dial delay before a call is connected
* Send SMS messages from Missed Call Alert or Call Log
* Now there's a new user guide that incorporates the changes after running the Treo 650 Updater: Treo 650 User Guide (PDF)

Also included from the previous version (released March 2005):

* Optimizes memory handling and frees up more memory with non-volatile file system improvements (learn more)
* Overall voice quality improvements and enhanced call clarity
* Internal setting modification to allow correct access to Sprint Affiliate roaming partner networks (previously released as Sprint PCS Treo 650 Roaming Patch)
* TTY (also known as TDD or Text Telephone) optimizations and improvements
* Optimizations for data calls
* Bluetooth Carkit drivers are now included in ROM (previously released as Carkit Update for Treo 650)


Back To Top

Do I need the Treo 650 Updater 1.12?

Your Treo 650 smartphone may already include the updater. Click here to find out if you need to add the updater to your smartphone.


Back To Top

What to expect

The Treo 650 Updater 1.12 will change the permanent (ROM) software in your Treo smartphone. Please set aside 30 minutes to complete the process.

Here's what happens during the upgrade:

1. Your smartphone's user name is identified
2. Your personal data is backed up on your PC or Mac
3. The updater is installed on your smartphone
4. The ROM updater runs automatically on your smartphone
5. All your personal data and applications are erased from the smartphone
6. The ROM software is upgraded
7. A second HotSync operation restores the personal data and applications that were backed up earlier


Back To Top

System Requirements

* Sprint PCS Treo 650 smartphone. You will see an error message if you attempt to install this version of the updater on any other type of Treo 650 smartphone.

* Windows 2000/XP or Mac OS 10.2.6 to 10.3.x

* HotSync Manager 6.0.1 or greater (Windows), or 3.2.1 (Mac). This is part of the Palm Desktop installation included on your Treo 650 smartphone CD.

* Treo 650 battery fully charged.

* At least 11MB/11,000KB free memory on your Treo 650 smartphone. The update software requires this much free memory; the software will be removed from your device (and the memory freed) when the update is complete. Find out how much free memory you have. Below, we also provide alternate instructions for users who cannot clear 11MB free memory on the device.

* Must be installing the update on a computer with which the Treo 650 smartphone is synchronized (i.e. a user folder for the smartphone exists on the computer).

* Must synchronize with your current user name. You may have several user names stored on your desktop computer. Make sure you synchronize with the user name on your Treo 650 smartphone, or you will appear to lose data.

Caution: Performing this update will erase all data on your Treo 650 smartphone and revert it to a factory state. Follow the directions below to back up the information in your smartphone's Program Memory. After the update is complete, you will restore your data to your smartphone from these backups.

Some third-party applications change the way your smartphone backs up data. Other third-party applications do not back up data. If you have third-party software on your device, please contact the developer to learn what components are backed up during a HotSync operation, and if HotSync conduits are altered. Any data not backed up will be lost.

[TwoHelpfulTechs]

bad news friends
after being so excited with this phone, i hate to say i am not happy. this crazy thing keeps crashing and i need to hard reset each time and than when i sync back my info it crashes again. this device is very very sensitive to many things and the hard part is figuring out what the heck it is thats causing the crashes. what happens is it starts its normal boot up where u see the palm one logo and than the second palm logo appears, but it will keep cycling those over and over.
just so you know, this is what happened to me the very first thing out of the box when trying to set up the software for syncing. i even did it with the teir 2 support and they were shocked how crazy it was going.
any ideas?

i really love all the new upgrades but im aching to maybe put it back in the box and send it where it came from. and i really hate this versamail. i think its one of the causes.

Were you using the Treo 600 before the 650? You might have to delete all of that info and Hot-Sync software on your computer before you try to Hot-Sync again. Also, what kind of memory card are you using? I had the same problem you are having because my memory card was corrupted and I had outdated software left from my Treo 600 left on my computer.

[bligz]

TREO 650 crashes when tring to retrieve email with versamail via pop 3 when clicking get button in versamail, i get 5-8 out of the total number of downloaded then it resets iteself.

swaped out phone ... same problem with new tre 650

think there is an issue with versaamaill
anyone else> gotta fix?


no fix but I experience the same thing. Took it to sprint, got a new unit and the same thing. Tried a hard reset, still same problem. I'm here looking for a fix myself....

[charolastra1]

How can I update my treo 650 in order to keep up with it's updates?

[philk]

I have the same problem and I have been to cox, sprint and palm and all blame it on versamail. What else should I use?

[kdallen]

I have the same problem and I have been to cox, sprint and palm and all blame it on versamail. What else should I use?
There are numerous email apps out there. There are Snapper, Chatter, Agendus, to name a few. All have trials, so you can play with them and see what works for you. I've tried them all and I finally bought Agendus.

[unclefreddy]

i think that the dynamic memory allocation is different than that used for previous palm devices, leading to frequent crashing. some programs crash if their associated files are on the main phone memory but not on a memory card. annoying.